Perseids Meteor Shower. The Perseids is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at their peak. This year's shower should peak on the night of August 12 and the morning of the 13th, but you may be able to see some meteors any time from July 23 - August 22. The radiant point for this shower will be in the constellation Perseus. The thin, crescent moon will be out of the way early, setting the stage for a potentially spectacular show. For best viewing, look to the northeast after midnight.

Also - Given a good low western horizon during the first week or so of August, you will see a close grouping of the planets Venus, Mars and Saturn. On the 7th, they will lies within a circle just 4.7 degrees across so qualifing for the term a "Planetary Trio" as they all lie within a circle of angular diameter 5 degrees. You will thus be able to see them in the same binocular field of view. That evening, Venus will be just 3 degrees below Saturn By the 12th August, they will have separated but be joined by a thin crescent Moon making a very nice photographic target. Venus and Mars become closer during the next ten days until on the 17th to 19th they are just 1.9 degrees apart.

Funny story... My wife and I love to watch the big meteor showers and we really miss our home in the woods of central Wisconsin, where light pollution was not a factor. We would lay out on the deck, all lights off, and just stare in awe at God's handiwork, often seeing hundreds of meteors in a single night. Missing that after our move to Louisville, we ventured into Floyd's Knobs (the hills of southern Indiana, north of the city) and ventured on secondary roads until we found a great viewing spot next to a field, where we could see all the way to the horizon in the correct direction. After laying out on the hood of the car for a couple hours watching, we decided to head in for the night. In short order, we noticed headlights behind us that seemed to gain. I sped up a bit just so that I would not cause that fellow traveler to be hindered on his or her journey. About the time we hit the state highway we discovered that our tailgater was the county sheriff as the blues went on.

They approached our vehicle with guns drawn and lights in hand -- as cautious as possible. We just sat there and laughed. They asked for ID, which we provided, then they searched the car (found nothing, I'm a pastor for crying out loud), and started to grill us about "having sex in cars" (as if... we're in our 50s and we don't bend that way anymore). We just explained that we were out watching the meteor shower and they didn't have a clue. Just then, a spectacular specimen buzzed right across our field of view. They were amazed and after some small talk, bought into our reason for spending a couple hours on an isolated quiet hill top that far from civilization. We still laugh every time it is Perseid's time...

Great story! I hate when people talk about how LEOs should be out chasing criminal instead of hasseling law abiding citizens, but come on. Guns drawn??? I wonder what probable cause they had for the search?

And people are up in arms about Arizona LEOs asking for proof of citizenship if they suspect someone is here illegally.

We once decided to have a romantic evening watching meteors on our garage roof ....a rubber roof. We went to bed about 2AM When we woke up, our sheets were completely black. Then we looked at each other. Needless to say we looked like 2 little tar babies, but it was worth it.